Red Sox always dough boys

Tuesday

Jul 2, 2013 at 6:00 AM

When it comes to numbers, baseball intellectuals may debate the merits of batting average vs. OPS, or ERA vs. won-lost record, but for those who have made a living playing the game, only one number truly matters.

Salary.

Isaac Newton was wrong about the law of gravity when it comes to baseball paychecks. Either that, or he was an Astros fan.

Accompanying this story is a chart listing the highest-paid Red Sox players, season by season, through the years. It has been compiled using many different sources of information, including the Baseball Reference website, articles by Society of American Baseball Research members, player biographies, Red Sox team history books, the USA Today salary database, and firsthand knowledge.

It is unofficial and not quite complete; figures for 1908 to 1912 are not available and, oddly enough, 1962 salaries are not available. So the chart may not be exact, but it’s pretty close.

Paychecks demonstrate the value of competition.

In 1901, the American League opened for business, butting heads with the National League. Salaries essentially doubled with a bidding war, and the Red Sox paid third baseman Jimmy Collins $10,000 to be their player-manager. That was big money then, but even with inflation, it’s ice cream money by today’s standards.

Collins’ 10 grand in 1901 would be about $275,000 today, a little more than half the major league minimum salary.

The next big jump came in 1914 when the Federal League tried to become a third major league. Future Hall of Famer Tris Speaker went from making $9,000 to $17,500 because of the Federal League. Speaker was traded later because of his salary demands, a recurring theme with early Red Sox ownership. The Sox later sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees because he wanted too much money, then traded Harry Hooper to the White Sox because of his paycheck.

After the sale of Ruth, the Red Sox sank into deep baseball depression, and their salary figures for the 1920s and into the ’30s reflect that. It all changed when Tom Yawkey bought the team in 1933.

In 1932, the Sox total payroll was about $150,000 — considering that Boston was 43-111, it can be argued ownership overpaid its players. By 1934, the payroll was closer to $250,000.

Finally, free agency arrived in 1976 and the Red Sox fully embraced it with the signing of Mike Torrez in ’78 for $540,000. In ’76, Carl Yastrzemski and Ferguson Jenkins were the top earners at $200,000 apiece.

Some observations:

• Three leaders were player-managers — Collins, Marty McManus and Joe Cronin — and they were counted players for as long as they were regulars.

• Left fielders have been the top earners 44 times, way more than any other position. Only one catcher, Muddy Ruel in 1931, and one left-handed pitcher, Herb Pennock in 1934, have been the highest-paid Sox player. The only shortstop has been player-manager Cronin. The only pure third baseman has been Wade Boggs in 1985. Collins and McManus played third base and managed.

• It took 33 years for the Sox to have their first $50,000 salary (Pennock), 49 years for their first $100,000 salary (Williams), 85 years for their first million-dollar man (Boggs), 87 years to get to $2 million (Rice), 99 years to get to $10 million (Pedro Martinez), and 102 years to get to $20 million (Manny Ramírez).

• The highest single-season salary is that of Ramírez in 2004. He was paid $22.5 million. That is substantially more than John Lackey’s top paycheck this year, which is $15.25 million. So, for ownership, that’s progress.

They should not expect it to continue. More than 100 years of history says that baseball salaries will continue to go up, no matter what Newton believed.